I have heard that the female ped at the office here is LC certified, but even so, the other LC didn't seem to be able to help me very much when I spoke with her about supply issues. She was also the one who made breast feeding sound SO easy, and who kept saying 'just give the breast' during the baby care and feeding class. The ped at his 2m appt did seem encouraged that I still did some bfing despite having low supply and needing to use formula, tho. From what I see of the locals up here, they give up very easily on bfing and are quick to switch to formula. I have my own opinions on why that is, but I won't share them. I'm curious to see what she says at his 4m appt. I do know that every weight check I've gone to they have asked and noted in the chart what and how much he eats, which I find encouraging
World health organization states nothing but breastmilk for the first 6 months. It's strange how pediatrician a are pushing other things at 4 months when all breastfeeding councils and agreed upon scientific finding conclude bm, over and over again.
Formula mamas, I don't know what's protocol. But doctors don't know everything about food, sleep, or nutrition. There are lots of resources out there who do! Explore!
Ready for flames but I had to chime in. It's a matter of displacing breastmilk calories with lesser quality foods.
It is not replacing anything.... It's about getting LO to try different things, textures. I won't flame too much that's all, you are entitled to your opinion... But I'm certainly not decreasing my breastfeeding to replace with food. Adding variety and nutrition, which my man was needing. I am also a newborn nurse and not uneducated, on these things especially
^^ to add.. There is no one right way for every baby, they are all very different with different needs, you need to do what's right for your baby. I wouldn't be holding my baby off trying solids if they are grabbing at your food mouth watering every time you eat, able to sit up...pay attention your babies cues they should be the one you listen to whether they are ready or not, any doctor will tell you you shouldn't set a date, be in tuned with your babe, no article can replace your motherly intuition, (literature forever changes...)
I agree all babies are different so I'm not going to chime in on the solids or no solids, cereal or no cereal thing and I'm stuck waiting anyway since I don't want to spoon feed, I have to wait until he's reaching for food. Nothing against spoon feeding, we just like the ease of BLW.
BUT isn't cereal in the bottle a choking hazard?? Or am I misinformed on that? I'm only bringing it up because no one has mentioned it and I thought it was. I am not an expert.
The more I spend time with our pediatricians the more I realize they really don't have any BF knowledge. They'll spout "breast is best" til the world ends but why are they pushing solids when she's growing and the AAP and WHO state otherwise? I also mentioned how I've been putting EBM in her eye for the goop and he was like "um I've never heard of that. Use a warm washcloth" and made me feel really stupid. Her eye is all clear after 2 times so...suck it, doc. But it makes me sad that they have such a lack of current practices.
I agree that there are definitely people in the medical community that don't seem to know very much about breastfeeding (not about the solids thing since as others have said, its more for the experience...so this is probably just a little tangent,but it bugs me). That's just based on the experience I've had in the hospital after delivery and at my ped's office. The nursery nurse was pressuring me to let them give my LO a bottle of formula when she was 2 days old because my milk hadn't come in yet...even though I knew it was normal for milk not to come in by then and I didn't want to risk the bottle impacting breastfeeding. I found out the next day from another nurse that I could use an SNS thing to give her formula while breastfeeding..and I'm like, why didn't that nursery nurse know about that??? It took a few weeks to get LO back to her birth weight and meanwhile, the pediatrician was pressuring me to give her a bottle so they can know exactly how much she was taking in. When I let the pediatrician know I hadn't been able to pump much milk at all so if we had to do only bottles of formula, that would impact my supply...and she was just like, yup. I saw a LC the next day who told me about using a baby scale to know what she takes in while breastfeeding...and again...I'm like, why didn't the pediatrician tell me about that??? Also, I learned from the LC that just because you don't get much or any milk out when you pump, doesn't say anything about your supply because some people just can't get milk pumped even though their supply is fine...another tidbit the pediatrician clearly didn't know about since she made me feel like I had a low supply because I hadn't been able to get milk pumped.
@henrytviii, why don't you want to spoon feed? Just asking to gain any insight that could be helpful and to learn more. I haven't read up yet much on introducing non-milk foods so not sure of different techniques and reasons, so I have no opinions on the food subject yet.
I agree all babies are different so I'm not going to chime in on the solids or no solids, cereal or no cereal thing and I'm stuck waiting anyway since I don't want to spoon feed, I have to wait until he's reaching for food. Nothing against spoon feeding, we just like the ease of BLW.
BUT isn't cereal in the bottle a choking hazard?? Or am I misinformed on that? I'm only bringing it up because no one has mentioned it and I thought it was. I am not an expert.
There is mixed info on this as well (no right answer) I personally did not put it in the bottle.. When he was ready to eat he did it off of a spoon
@henrytviii, why don't you want to spoon feed? Just asking to gain any insight that could be helpful and to learn more. I haven't read up yet much on introducing non-milk foods so not sure of different techniques and reasons, so I have no opinions on the food subject yet.
If baby is not able to sit up with help or hold head up well, able to be on tummy and lock elbows up to hold head up.. They are not ready for spoon feed, possibly why she is not spoon feeding yet
The more I spend time with our pediatricians the more I realize they really don't have any BF knowledge. They'll spout "breast is best" til the world ends but why are they pushing solids when she's growing and the AAP and WHO state otherwise? I also mentioned how I've been putting EBM in her eye for the goop and he was like "um I've never heard of that. Use a warm washcloth" and made me feel really stupid. Her eye is all clear after 2 times so...suck it, doc. But it makes me sad that they have such a lack of current practices.
I agree that there are definitely people in the medical community that don't seem to know very much about breastfeeding (not about the solids thing since as others have said, its more for the experience...so this is probably just a little tangent,but it bugs me). That's just based on the experience I've had in the hospital after delivery and at my ped's office. The nursery nurse was pressuring me to let them give my LO a bottle of formula when she was 2 days old because my milk hadn't come in yet...even though I knew it was normal for milk not to come in by then and I didn't want to risk the bottle impacting breastfeeding. I found out the next day from another nurse that I could use an SNS thing to give her formula while breastfeeding..and I'm like, why didn't that nursery nurse know about that??? It took a few weeks to get LO back to her birth weight and meanwhile, the pediatrician was pressuring me to give her a bottle so they can know exactly how much she was taking in. When I let the pediatrician know I hadn't been able to pump much milk at all so if we had to do only bottles of formula, that would impact my supply...and she was just like, yup. I saw a LC the next day who told me about using a baby scale to know what she takes in while breastfeeding...and again...I'm like, why didn't the pediatrician tell me about that??? Also, I learned from the LC that just because you don't get much or any milk out when you pump, doesn't say anything about your supply because some people just can't get milk pumped even though their supply is fine...another tidbit the pediatrician clearly didn't know about since she made me feel like I had a low supply because I hadn't been able to get milk pumped.
^ this also exactly. The male pediatrician made me feel like I had super low supply because when I pumped I truly only got 5-10ml each time. To translate to ounces, that's like 1/10th of an ounce. Less than a quarter of a quarter of an ounce. But when baby is on the boob, he is obviously getting more. I don't know how much more because I've never done the weigh before and after, but he is swallowing much more than what it would take him to drink that 10ml out of a bottle. Some women just Do. Not. Produce. For. A. Pump. But pump output doesn't mean that's what is being produced overall. And while he did know that, I actually heard that 'some women don't produce for a pump' from him, he also made it seem like the lack of pumping production did not bode well for supply at all. And yes, while I do have to supplement with formula, because I do in fact not produce enough, I don't think its the scant offerings he seemed to be implying
I love seeing so many informed, empowered mamas posting here! I've been avoiding this thread til I spoke with our pediatrician...
...which was today and I was NOT impressed with her. But she said a couple things that made sense ~for me and my baby!!~ I love the rest of you but don't actually care (read: judge) what you're doing with your babies.
Our doc said to try rice cereal before bed to help LO feel full and stay asleep (we have massive sleep issues). We will not be doing this because I do not believe making a baby feel full without providing nutrition is a good sleep strategy for my baby. If that was the strategy, just give me baby Ambien. I actually do not believe LO is hungry each time he wakes. I think I've accidentally taught him the joys of wake-and-boob.
Doc said to exclusively breastfeed for the full 6 months to get full EBF benefits, such as reduced allergy risks. For this reason (though I believe my LO is low risk for allergies), we are going to attempt this.
Doc said start with vegetables before fruits, because fruits are sweeter and might get LO used to sweet. Baby needs his veggies! I liked this advice.
LO is definitely getting interested in real food, so we will see what happens. I'm interested in BLW but am not ready to read another parenting book right now. They're making me anxious. So we shall see.
Sorry for the book. Just my long $0.02 for my personal situation.
@virginiaunicorn11 I could have written that post! Although I'm not BFing, I personally don't feel any urge or need to rush out and buy cereal. My ped said its not adding any nutritional value (more to get used to the spoon as others have mentioned), so it's completely up to us.
I cannot wait to get some veggies all over that cute face though!
Had 4 month visit today.... Pediatrician said no solids until 6 months .... My 4 year old started at 4 months (same pediatrician).... Things always change lol
Sorry, I stepped out for a bit. My baby can sit up etc so we could spoon feed. I just really like baby led weaning for several reasons. The baby is in control, no making or buying purees, we can all eat at the same time and I don't need to sit and fed the baby. I'd say it is easier but that is wrong because clean up is rough. My sister did purees and he me kids struggled with texture so I got a little paranoid (this is not logical). But BLW worked really well with my first, he ate lots of veggies and has been a really mature and adventurous eater, not a typical toddler. We want to do it the same way. For whatever reason I've also bought into the nothing but breastmilk for 6 months camp but I have no logical explanation for that being best. My kids don't sleep well at night so I am temped by cereals but I don't think it would help. I do introduce oatmeal cakes and savory muffins as soon as we start solids so I'm not anti-grain. Basically as soon as my kid is reaching for my food I'll start feeding him. The earliest I'd start would be 5 months. If he's not interested at 6-7 months I'll start anyway because I want to introduce new textures. I am being really definite in this because its one thing I can choose/control in the chaos of parenting indecision. I've got this one. Everything else I am still clueless on. Sleep, breastfeeding, brain development, technology use, nighttime sleep temperatures . . . I suck at all of that. The problem is that what works for me and my kid might not be best for the next kid. That's why we all circle around this message board searching for the golden ticket. Sadly there is none
I'd add that we are at 4.5 months and there's no way we'll be starting this soon. My first was way past ready at 5.5 months when we started. So even though I have a plan I have to be fluid. It may not work the same way.
I love seeing so many informed, empowered mamas posting here! I've been avoiding this thread til I spoke with our pediatrician...
...which was today and I was NOT impressed with her. But she said a couple things that made sense ~for me and my baby!!~ I love the rest of you but don't actually care (read: judge) what you're doing with your babies.
Our doc said to try rice cereal before bed to help LO feel full and stay asleep (we have massive sleep issues). We will not be doing this because I do not believe making a baby feel full without providing nutrition is a good sleep strategy for my baby. If that was the strategy, just give me baby Ambien. I actually do not believe LO is hungry each time he wakes. I think I've accidentally taught him the joys of wake-and-boob.
Doc said to exclusively breastfeed for the full 6 months to get full EBF benefits, such as reduced allergy risks. For this reason (though I believe my LO is low risk for allergies), we are going to attempt this.
Doc said start with vegetables before fruits, because fruits are sweeter and might get LO used to sweet. Baby needs his veggies! I liked this advice.
LO is definitely getting interested in real food, so we will see what happens. I'm interested in BLW but am not ready to read another parenting book right now. They're making me anxious. So we shall see.
Sorry for the book. Just my long $0.02 for my personal situation.
I love this, this why we need to SHARE without pushing our views and opinions on others. (Guilty at times) Everyone is doing what they feel is right for their LOs, and that is what matters. Mothering is a religion in itself. The fact we are all passionate and love our little ones, and they are HEALTHY and happy, is all that matters
The more I spend time with our pediatricians the more I realize they really don't have any BF knowledge. They'll spout "breast is best" til the world ends but why are they pushing solids when she's growing and the AAP and WHO state otherwise? I also mentioned how I've been putting EBM in her eye for the goop and he was like "um I've never heard of that. Use a warm washcloth" and made me feel really stupid. Her eye is all clear after 2 times so...suck it, doc. But it makes me sad that they have such a lack of current practices.
I agree that there are definitely people in the medical community that don't seem to know very much about breastfeeding (not about the solids thing since as others have said, its more for the experience...so this is probably just a little tangent,but it bugs me). That's just based on the experience I've had in the hospital after delivery and at my ped's office. The nursery nurse was pressuring me to let them give my LO a bottle of formula when she was 2 days old because my milk hadn't come in yet...even though I knew it was normal for milk not to come in by then and I didn't want to risk the bottle impacting breastfeeding. I found out the next day from another nurse that I could use an SNS thing to give her formula while breastfeeding..and I'm like, why didn't that nursery nurse know about that??? It took a few weeks to get LO back to her birth weight and meanwhile, the pediatrician was pressuring me to give her a bottle so they can know exactly how much she was taking in. When I let the pediatrician know I hadn't been able to pump much milk at all so if we had to do only bottles of formula, that would impact my supply...and she was just like, yup. I saw a LC the next day who told me about using a baby scale to know what she takes in while breastfeeding...and again...I'm like, why didn't the pediatrician tell me about that??? Also, I learned from the LC that just because you don't get much or any milk out when you pump, doesn't say anything about your supply because some people just can't get milk pumped even though their supply is fine...another tidbit the pediatrician clearly didn't know about since she made me feel like I had a low supply because I hadn't been able to get milk pumped.
Eta- this is where my response starts.. Was blended with ^^ response.. Exactly why you need to educate yourself (not you, speaking as a whole) and you are your babies best bet.. No one knows your baby like you. For example, "Start solids 4-6 months".. There are some 6 month olds who can't hold their head up properly and therefore certainly are not ready to eat solids.. My 4 month old sits up on his own and was very ready to eat. You cannot go off literature alone thats the problem lately, moms have stopped paying attention to their motherly instinct and get wrapped up in the newest articles. It's concerning that the one who will ignore her babes ques because the "world health organization says I should do it this way"... Well that's a major problem..
@HayesRN13 you make an excellent point...We have to developer and embrace the right balance between following guidelines and following our baby.
Guidelines are precisely that a guide an idea a construct - not a rule.
Some babies will be ready before lots around the time and some will be ready after. We need to tune in to our own little human and figure out what they are telling us by looking at their developmental cues.
I think we can be a little less afraid that we are going to do something terrible either... because as long as common sense is used we have seen that previous generations have not adhered to the same guidelines we have and for the most part we've turned out alright.
Yep....... Love what @HayesRN13 is saying here. Mothers everywhere are anal retentive and caught up in strict rules and regimens. Stressing themselves out when they actually don't need to be.
We tried giving LO a tiny bite of mashed potatoes last night....... Nope. Spit it out and wanted nothing to do with it! The look on his face was super funny though.... Am I a bad mom ? Lol
I have no opinion on this. People will do what they want for their own children. We EBF and she wakes up in the night to nurse and I am totally fine with that if that is benefiting her- not going to add foods so I can have a full nights rest. If that works for you, great! I'm all about do what's best for your lifestyle approach and judge no ones decision making. We're all doing great making it without going nuts!
Reading this thread is really making me think.... Why do so many women feel they know better than doctors when parenting and making choices for their infants but were so quick to "listen to the doctor" at all costs during pregnancy?! This is NOT directed at any specific post just a general feeling on here and IRL... Curious to hear others thoughts...
Edited to add: I realize most, if not all, of the obnoxious "my doctor knows everything and you are just stupid" posters are long gone hahah
For me, it's because I believe pregnancies are much more similar, medically speaking, than babies. There are so many blood and urine tests, etc, that I basically HAD to listen to my doctor. It was all biometrics, which I can't observe or understand.
Now that LO is outside the womb, he's his own observable entity. The doctor isn't looking at his urine and saying when he wakes at night, he's hungry. She's making a generalization about why many babies wake. Which is fine, but in our case, she's wrong. She isn't observing that he's not actually swallowing when he's nursing during half his wake-ups.
My ability to make observations about LO that my doctor cannot, is leading me to trust my own conclusions over hers.
Now if LO has a fever and needs a medical diagnosis, I trust the doctor over myself. But with behavioral stuff? She's a valued advisor, but not my bible.
For me, it's because I believe pregnancies are much more similar, medically speaking, than babies. There are so many blood and urine tests, etc, that I basically HAD to listen to my doctor. It was all biometrics, which I can't observe or understand.
Now that LO is outside the womb, he's his own observable entity. The doctor isn't looking at his urine and saying when he wakes at night, he's hungry. She's making a generalization about why many babies wake. Which is fine, but in our case, she's wrong. She isn't observing that he's not actually swallowing when he's nursing during half his wake-ups.
My ability to make observations about LO that my doctor cannot, is leading me to trust my own conclusions over hers.
Now if LO has a fever and needs a medical diagnosis, I trust the doctor over myself. But with behavioral stuff? She's a valued advisor, but not my bible.
I agree completely. I will always listen to my Drs advice and would never step too far out of the box but, I consider myself educated and nurturing therefore I trust myself to make certain decisions. I put (and I'm sure everyone here does too) lots of effort into making sure this babe is healthy and happy. My Dr suggested spoon feeding rice at three months...umm no. She also told me LO was a snacking and to skip breastfeeding here and there to train him, ruined my supply. I had to stop beast feeding at six weeks and I struggle to forgive her for it. I decided then that I can make decisions for LO because I'm mom and the Dr isn't.
If I were EBF I wouldn't have started solids yet but, I'm not and LO loves his sweet potatoes ...and oatmeal (no rice here).
And for future reference my LO preferres veggies to fruits. Idk why or if it's just him but it works for now.
One of the things I LOVED about my doctor this pregnancy was her ability to say that we just don't know, can't know. I had a strange pregnancy with small red flags left and right but never any definitive diagnosis's. It was terrify and frustrating but the honesty was appreciated. I delivered and we learned that the cord insertion in the placentia was marginal to velamentous but there's no certainty that that was the cause either. I am continuing to see this doctor with baby and she's wonderful. Smart enough to know she doesn't have all the answers and open to many ways to start a baby on solids.
I don't know if I prefer specific instructions or freedom to decide.... For example, my pediatrician said it is up to me to give keep giving vitamins (mostly formula feeding now)... He said it doesn't hurt and some research suggests yes and some say not necessary... Other ped In Group says absolutely give them .... So sometimes I just want them to be like this is what you have to do haha.... Other suggestions I roll my eyes and do my own thing... Next up is flu shot decisions... Should I make a thread?! Yikes...
From what I understood, starting purees was supposed to be about the experience, not necessarily replacing nutrition/calories like @marinamarina said. I thought it was intended to get babies to taste and try, not supplement.
That's what I understood from my Ped.
Me-37, DH-38
Married in 2006, TTC #1 since Jan 2012
Baby Boy born June 1, 2015
He settles her in her home as a happy mother of children, praise the Lord! (Psalms 113:9)
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understand, will guard your heart and mind in Jesus Christ (Philippians 4:7)
@ElRuby for me, it was that pregnancy info was much more cut and dry on info. And there was a lot more at risk. As for the baby, it seems there are a million ways to skin a cat, and rarely things are one size fits all.
TTC: 1/2014
BFP: 9/24
EDD: 6/8/2015
Sorry for the poor man's siggy...ticker won't load regardless of how many tips I read.
For me, my pediatrician is not going home with me and raising my baby. He is there to take care of my baby medically. He told me to stop nursing on demand and I didnt follow that bc that's not what was best for my baby (or any baby IMO). He has also said some stuff about sleep training and solids at 4 months. I'll nod and say ok or flat out say I'm not doing that (in respect to sleep training and solids at 4 months). Peditricians are trained in medicine...not raising babies and this is coming from a health care provider. So long as my baby is healthy and happy and growing appropriately I'll do what I feel best. I agree that pregnancy can be cut and dry regarding doctors care where as babies are really individuals and it's not a one size fits all. My DH has a hard time with me not taking the pediatricians advice as truth but I feel more than knowledgable as a nurse practitioner to know if it's something I agree with or not Or if it's outdated information. Questioning doctors/nurse practitioners is ALWAYS ok.
For me, it's because I believe pregnancies are much more similar, medically speaking, than babies. There are so many blood and urine tests, etc, that I basically HAD to listen to my doctor. It was all biometrics, which I can't observe or understand.
Now that LO is outside the womb, he's his own observable entity. The doctor isn't looking at his urine and saying when he wakes at night, he's hungry. She's making a generalization about why many babies wake. Which is fine, but in our case, she's wrong. She isn't observing that he's not actually swallowing when he's nursing during half his wake-ups.
My ability to make observations about LO that my doctor cannot, is leading me to trust my own conclusions over hers.
Now if LO has a fever and needs a medical diagnosis, I trust the doctor over myself. But with behavioral stuff? She's a valued advisor, but not my bible.
I didn't listen during pregnancy with my first midwife at the doctors office on everything in regards to some food, tests. The second was a better fit for our crunchy ways so I guess then we "listened" more. I still made sure I was pretty confident in my research though where parenting is kind of fly by the seat of your pants half the time.
The dr told me at his 4 month check up that if I wanted to I could start him on cereal since he eats 30+ oz a day. Since he doesn't do this every day (which I also told dr) I'm personally going to wait until he's a little older. I like that the dr gave me the choice and she told me to trust my gut because he would let me know if he wasn't getting enough!
I'm going with my gut & mommy instinct as to when/if I should feed l/o cereal. Only I know my baby and what my baby needs, non medically. Right now I know that my l/o can hold her head up, push up while on her belly, & can push her milk from the front of her tongue to the back, but I know she's not ready for solids yet. I'm ok with that. It's one less thing to spend money on. As soon as I feel she is ready to move on to solids I'll happily take pics of her with food all over her face, until then, just milk for this babe.
LO is killing 30 ounces a day, easy. He'll be 4 months on the 22nd (next Thursday) and he usually eats every 3 hours during the day, but here lately it's every 2.5 and he acts like he's starving to death. He's been watching us eat, as well. I'm going to go on my lunch break today and get some oatmeal cereal for him. I talked to the nurse at the Pedi's office today and they said it's fine if we want to start him. He's a big boy and I think he's ready. I'm not going to push it if he doesn't act interested, though.
I got Gerber Organic Whole Grain Oatmeal Cereal. I noticed a brand called happy bellies that had probiotics in it, but it didn't really have an age suggestions so I wasn't sure. Anyone know anything about it? Given his constipation, it might help.
The dr told me at his 4 month check up that if I wanted to I could start him on cereal since he eats 30+ oz a day. Since he doesn't do this every day (which I also told dr) I'm personally going to wait until he's a little older. I like that the dr gave me the choice and she told me to trust my gut because he would let me know if he wasn't getting enough!
I happened to read this right after the 4 month stats. My LO is so similar. Hasn't doubled his birth weight yet and is only 13 pounds at 4.5 months (20th percentile)... but eats so much, I'm barely keeping up with pumping! I don't know where it all goes or why his weight gain is so slow!
My Ped had a similar attitude... LO is healthy and she's not concerned about his weight, so she said to follow his lead and watch for readiness.
Me-37, DH-38
Married in 2006, TTC #1 since Jan 2012
Baby Boy born June 1, 2015
He settles her in her home as a happy mother of children, praise the Lord! (Psalms 113:9)
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understand, will guard your heart and mind in Jesus Christ (Philippians 4:7)
I got Gerber Organic Whole Grain Oatmeal Cereal. I noticed a brand called happy bellies that had probiotics in it, but it didn't really have an age suggestions so I wasn't sure. Anyone know anything about it? Given his constipation, it might help.
I use the gerber organic as well. His formula I supplement is organic and has probiotics in it so I wasn't too worried about what type of food/cereal, I haven't heard of that brand in particular but probiotics are great
I got Gerber Organic Whole Grain Oatmeal Cereal. I noticed a brand called happy bellies that had probiotics in it, but it didn't really have an age suggestions so I wasn't sure. Anyone know anything about it? Given his constipation, it might help.
I use the gerber organic as well. His formula I supplement is organic and has probiotics in it so I wasn't too worried about what type of food/cereal, I haven't heard of that brand in particular but probiotics are great
I'm going to see how he does with it. He's on Enfamil gentle ease. I got prune juice, too.
LO has reflux so the GI Doctor told us to add a teaspoon of rice or oatmeal cereal to a few of his bottles a day...no spoon or full meals...just thickening his bottles to help the meal stay down. Seems to be helping, but I had to try a few things before I mastered not clogging the nipples. He was given the okay to start at 4 months old, but as I said it is not a meal...just a thickener.
Re: Introducing Cereal
BUT isn't cereal in the bottle a choking hazard?? Or am I misinformed on that? I'm only bringing it up because no one has mentioned it and I thought it was. I am not an expert.
^ this also exactly. The male pediatrician made me feel like I had super low supply because when I pumped I truly only got 5-10ml each time. To translate to ounces, that's like 1/10th of an ounce. Less than a quarter of a quarter of an ounce. But when baby is on the boob, he is obviously getting more. I don't know how much more because I've never done the weigh before and after, but he is swallowing much more than what it would take him to drink that 10ml out of a bottle. Some women just Do. Not. Produce. For. A. Pump. But pump output doesn't mean that's what is being produced overall. And while he did know that, I actually heard that 'some women don't produce for a pump' from him, he also made it seem like the lack of pumping production did not bode well for supply at all. And yes, while I do have to supplement with formula, because I do in fact not produce enough, I don't think its the scant offerings he seemed to be implying
...which was today and I was NOT impressed with her. But she said a couple things that made sense ~for me and my baby!!~ I love the rest of you but don't actually care (read: judge) what you're doing with your babies.
Our doc said to try rice cereal before bed to help LO feel full and stay asleep (we have massive sleep issues). We will not be doing this because I do not believe making a baby feel full without providing nutrition is a good sleep strategy for my baby. If that was the strategy, just give me baby Ambien. I actually do not believe LO is hungry each time he wakes. I think I've accidentally taught him the joys of wake-and-boob.
Doc said to exclusively breastfeed for the full 6 months to get full EBF benefits, such as reduced allergy risks. For this reason (though I believe my LO is low risk for allergies), we are going to attempt this.
Doc said start with vegetables before fruits, because fruits are sweeter and might get LO used to sweet. Baby needs his veggies! I liked this advice.
LO is definitely getting interested in real food, so we will see what happens. I'm interested in BLW but am not ready to read another parenting book right now. They're making me anxious. So we shall see.
Sorry for the book. Just my long $0.02 for my personal situation.
I cannot wait to get some veggies all over that cute face though!
Eta- this is where my response starts.. Was blended with ^^ response..
Exactly why you need to educate yourself (not you, speaking as a whole) and you are your babies best bet.. No one knows your baby like you. For example, "Start solids 4-6 months".. There are some 6 month olds who can't hold their head up properly and therefore certainly are not ready to eat solids.. My 4 month old sits up on his own and was very ready to eat. You cannot go off literature alone thats the problem lately, moms have stopped paying attention to their motherly instinct and get wrapped up in the newest articles. It's concerning that the one who will ignore her babes ques because the "world health organization says I should do it this way"... Well that's a major problem..
Guidelines are precisely that a guide an idea a construct - not a rule.
Some babies will be ready before lots around the time and some will
be ready after. We need to tune in to our own little human and figure out what they are telling us by looking at their developmental cues.
I think we can be a little less afraid that we are going to do something terrible either... because as long as common sense is used we have seen that previous generations have not adhered to the same guidelines we have and for the most part we've turned out alright.
Mothers everywhere are anal retentive and caught up in strict rules and regimens. Stressing themselves out when they actually don't need to be.
We tried giving LO a tiny bite of mashed potatoes last night....... Nope. Spit it out and wanted nothing to do with it!
The look on his face was super funny though.... Am I a bad mom ? Lol
Edited to add: I realize most, if not all, of the obnoxious "my doctor knows everything and you are just stupid" posters are long gone hahah
Now that LO is outside the womb, he's his own observable entity. The doctor isn't looking at his urine and saying when he wakes at night, he's hungry. She's making a generalization about why many babies wake. Which is fine, but in our case, she's wrong. She isn't observing that he's not actually swallowing when he's nursing during half his wake-ups.
My ability to make observations about LO that my doctor cannot, is leading me to trust my own conclusions over hers.
Now if LO has a fever and needs a medical diagnosis, I trust the doctor over myself. But with behavioral stuff? She's a valued advisor, but not my bible.
If I were EBF I wouldn't have started solids yet but, I'm not and LO loves his sweet potatoes ...and oatmeal (no rice here).
And for future reference my LO preferres veggies to fruits. Idk why or if it's just him but it works for now.